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Preston
Preston is a cyber-dog (robot) invented by Fred Ramsbottom, and is the main antagonist of the 1995 short film A Close Shave. Appearance in A Close Shave Preston is a robotic dog created by Fred Ramsbottom to help with his wool factory. After the scientist dies, Preston takes care of his daughter, Wendolene, who now owns the wool factory and shop. Preston goes rogue and plans to steal sheep and turn them into his own brand of dog food. After discovering Wallace's Knit-O-Matic, he decides to steal the blueprints so he can make his own version for shearing sheep, the Mutton-O-Matic. When Gromit tries to reveal his plot, Preston frames him for his own thefts and killings. With Gromit in jail, Preston has free reign over the clueless Wallace and the non-threatening Wendolene. Preston's plan is eventually foiled by Shaun, who frees Gromit. Preston is sucked into his own grinding machine while trying to use it on Wallace and Wendolene, and is crushed into pieces. He is eventually reassembled and seemingly restored to his original, kinder nature. Appearance in "The Curse of the Ramsbottoms" In "The Curse of the Ramsbottoms" comic strip from the book Wallace & Gromit and the Lost Slipper, he is now a cyber-butler under the employ of Wendolene and her evil fiance, the cheese magnate Rhett Leicester with his army of gnomes. Personality Preston was built to be a friendly and helpful aid, but unfortunately, the end product was anything but. He is instead a pitiless thug and criminal, obsessed with wealth. He was willing to sink to the lowest depths to complete his agenda, willing to dispose of anyone or anything that interfered. He'd also be willing to brutally mince up sheep or humans to make more valuable dog food. A portrait of him with his inventor indicates that perhaps at one time, Preston was the faithful companion he was designed as before his more sinister programming came to be. He feels no loyalty towards Wendolene, whom he had forced into his sheep rustling scheme and had take part in his slaughter of the innocent animals. When she tried to stop him from attacking Shaun, he locked her up with the rest of them and did not hesitate to add her to the herd that was to be minced next. After his destruction at the hands of Shaun however, he has been rendered totally harmless by Wallace and now acts as the more faithful pet he was originally programmed to be. Trivia *Preston is named after Preston, the county town of Lancashire, which Nick Park comes from. *Preston might be a parody of The Terminator due to being covered in skin and is an robot. Also both Preston's and first Terminator's fates were similar: Preston was crushed by a machine and the terminator was crushed by a hydraulic press. *He resembles several different breeds of dog, but he mostly looks like an anthropomorphic presa canario. *The Preston also shares similarities with the robots from the Simpsons episode, Itchy and Scratchy Land, as well as the animatronics from the indie survival horror game, Five Nights at Freddy's (though this can be considered merely coincidental as the game was released more than a decade after A Close Shave). *Apart from growling and roaring, Preston is silent. *Unlike Feathers McGraw, who threatened to kill Wallace, Preston has killed many sheep very inhumanely, and because of this, he is probably the darkest character Aardman has created, alongside Mr. Arnold Hugh from Stage Fright, Mrs Melisha Tweedy from Chicken Run and Piella Bakewell from A Matter Of Loaf and Death. *In fact, Preston shares quite a few notable traits with Melisha Tweedy from Chicken Run: Both are paired up with fearful subordinates, one an equally intelligent but benign female wool farmer called Wendolene Ramsbottom, the other, an equally cruel but less intelligent male egg farmer called Mr. Willard Tweedy. Both Preston and Melisha are disappointed with the current business they work in, For Preston's case is wool-making, and For Melisha Tweedy's case is egg-counting, and aspire to become rich by butchering up their livestock using vast machines to mass-produce food, and crafting their public image as sweet and friendly, For Preston's case is mutton-flavored dog food, and For Melisha Tweedy's case is chicken pot pies. Melisha and Preston both had their former subordinate rise against them, but their species are different, For Preston's case is a cyber canine and is very silent, and for Melisha Tweedy's case is a human and is very capable at communicating in English language. Category:Characters Category:A Close Shave Category:Dogs Category:Silent Characters